GUIDE TO THE PHILOSOPHY 1938 - 1947.pdf - Rare Books at ...

50 ETHICS AND POLITICS,* THE GREEKS
Or consider the virtue of temperance, which is discussed
in the Dialogue known as the Chartnides. Temperance
consists neither in the indulgence of every side of our
nature nor in the repression of every side* On the contrary,
true temperance implies that some rule of conduct has
been adopted according to which every part
of our nature
is permitted as much indulgence as is good for it, and
will not interfere with the development of the rest. Who
or what is it that lays down this rule? Clearly it is reason.
Temperance, then, is a form of self-knowledge. It depends
upon, or consists in, a recognition by reason of how much
scope should be given to the various appetites and passions;
it depends upon our knowing which parts of our nature
should be in subjection to which* The intemperate man
lacks this knowledge. Not only does he not know when
to put a stop to the indulgence of any part of his nature,
but he does not know the proper ordering or disposition
of the different parts, and he fails to recognize that his
passions must be subject to a rule which has been laid
down by his reason.
Once again, then, we reach the same conclusion, that
virtue is a kind of knowledge, a knowledge of "what
ought to be" "ought to be", that is to say, because it is
good , while evil is an ignorance of what "ought to be."
Let the ignorance be removed and the compelling power
ofthe newly recognized good cannot but draw the individual
to pursue it. Socrates concludes that all the virtues are
really one and the same, since each reveals itself on analysis
to be a knowledge of die Good, and that, since no man
can know what is good without doing it, wrong-doing is
always involuntary.
The Defects of the Socratic View. The defects of this
view are fairly obvious and an enumeration of them will
introduce the more developed ethical theory of Plato which,
in its turn leads on to the political arguments, by means
of which Socrates proceeds to answer Glaucon and Adeimantus.
First, then, the Socratic view entails what is in